Disclaimer: Not mine, nor will it ever be...

Note: This actually began as a part of a series of stories I posted called, "Ranger Earth: Origins," well that project is on a indefinite hiatus because I had too many plots and too many characters...and well it just proved a bit over-bearing. So I took the one section that I really enjoyed, the one section that I had a decent number of chapters for (several of which never got published), so I decided to focus on that team. Essentially its the RPM team (more-or-less) based on concepts and storylines I had planned out before the series actually premiered (when all we had was a teaser and knew very little about the series), hence the many differences. So for those that were reading, "Ranger Earth: Origins," I apologize for its ending, that's not to say some of the teams will appear in later stories...but for now I want to focus on one team (for the most part)...and for new readers...please, enjoy.

RPM Redux

Once upon a time Justin Stewart had been a Power Ranger, but that seemed almost like another life. Storm-blaster, his sentient vehicle has long since returned to dormancy, and doing so took away his last connection to the Turbo Powers.

Of course there were times when he thought that it had all been a dream. A kid's game, there was no way he could ever have been a Ranger. He knew better though, once you knew the Power, you never forgot it. Sure it moved on to others, but there was that common bond that you all shared, once a Ranger, always a Ranger. In some cases that was more true than others, he'd heard tell that Tommy had suited back up for a while with a new team of Rangers, and Adam got another chance he'd heard as well, this time finally acting as the leader he had always had the potential to be. The funny thing was that both were Black Rangers now…or were…or however it was.

The dust kicked up behind the black jeep as it sped down the desert road. This road was rarely used by anyone. It was nothing more than a dirt path running through the barren and destroyed lands. Justin still wasn't sure why he had decided to take this road today, but it was one of the quickest ways to get into Corinth City, despite being one of the most dangerous stretches on Machine infested lands. Even though it was night time, there was still no guarantee that someone could make it across the land undamaged, and only an idiot would even consider making the 'Barricade Run' during the daytime, which would guarantee an early grave.

Corinth itself was one of the only havens left without any semblance of Venjix and his Machine Empire. Armed guards kept the area protected via a series of high tech laser grids, that essentially formed a force field around the city, one of the last remnants of Project Lightspeed. There were several similarly protected fields in other parts of the world, and each ran on a self-contained computer network that Venjix had yet been able to hack.

There were countless safeguards once one reached Corinth, scanners to pass, records to run, you weren't even allowed to use cell phones or any form of wireless communication. Venjix had ways to move through wireless ports, even in the city the only computers were what was required to keep the city alive.

Justin pulled up to one of the three entry points to the city as he came to a complete stop. Several scanners moved along the vehicle, checking for anything that could be a contaminate. After that Justin had to step through one scanner, a metal detector and then finally a manual scan by an armed gate guard. A second guard took three different types of ID and ran the numbers through several complete record searches. After an hour he was finally allowed into the city. Sure it was an inconvenience, but it was necessary, and most of the residents of the city had no problem with the procedures.

The Jeep passed through the city, the only light was from his headlights. Street lights were rarely used at night, because apart from the guards, most people had no interest in being outside part dark. Eventually Justin pulled into the lot in front of his apartment. He parked and unloaded, making his way to the door to apartment 14101, unlocking the door he walked in.

"You really need to cut back on these runs Justin, one of these days your luck is going to run out," a voice spoke in the darkness of the apartment.

Justin immediately went into a defensive stance, preparing for whatever was going to approach him.

"Calm down man," the light came on and standing against a far wall stood Adam Park, former Green Zeo and Turbo Ranger, and current Black Mighty Morphin Ranger.

"How did you get in here?" Justin relaxed.

"Well you haven't changed your lock in three years, and I still have the spare key you left me," Adam replied before tossing a key towards the former Blue Turbo Ranger.

"Better yet, what are you doing here?" Justin caught the key mid-air.

"Special request," Adam replied, "I have a meeting with a Dr. K tomorrow."

"Dr. K? Wow, messing with the big wigs. Have you ever met her in person?" Justin settled down on his sofa, and motioned for Adam to have a seat wherever.

"Never in person. You know her?" Adam sat down in a nearby recliner.

"Once or twice,," Justin laughed, "trust me, she won't be what your expecting."

"Well then, if you got no plans tomorrow wanna join?" Adam asked.

"Sure, why not. Okay back to a previous question, what exactly are you doing here, as in my apartment. Or was it just a social call at 1 in the morning?" Justin kicked his shoes off in the middle of the floor.

"Mind if an old teammate crashes for the night?" Adam chuckled.

"Take the couch," the former Blue Turbo Ranger stood up, "not to cut the visit short, but I gotta get some sleep. There's a pillow and some blankets in the cabinet over there."

Adam nodded his confirmation. In all the years Justin had been staying in this apartment he really hadn't changed that much. Grabbing a pillow and blanket Adam made his way to the couch, kicked off his shoes, kicked back and was asleep within fine minutes.

Justin woke the next morning to the smell of breakfast cooking, "what the heck…I don't buy groceries." Walking into the living room and running his hands through his tussled hair he saw Adam standing over the stove frying some eggs.

"I picked up a couple things in the market yesterday, hope ya don't mind," Adam was obviously a morning person.

Still yawning Justin replied, "oh yeah…how dare you…I didn't even think that stove worked."

Adam just laughed as he took the eggs out and laid them beside bacon and biscuits (homemade at that). "No wonder you're still single, I mean come on man every guy needs to be able to cook something, a woman can only eat out so much."

"What time is your meeting?" Justin bit into an egg.

"Bout an hour from now," Adam answered.

"Well I guess I should get ready," Justin continued eating.

"Not that boxers and un-tucked t-shirt isn't an appropriate look," Adam laughed.

The two Rangers finished their breakfast and Justin made his way into his room, coming out a few minutes later, dressed in cargo pants and a blue button down shirt. He finished lacing his boots and put a pair of shades on his head, "let's go."

Adam was dressed head to toe in black, the only other color he wore was a white jacket, "lead the way."

Both loaded into Justin's Jeep as they pulled out of the parking lot. They began the trip to Orion Labs, which was situated in the middle of the city.

The roads of Corinth were worn, but useable, and the trip didn't take long. Within 15 minutes Justin and Adam arrived at Orion Labs.

Orion was the power center of the city. It housed the only available computer network, as well as the primary as the city guard command. Once part of Project Lightspeed, Orion had branched off into its own entity, and when Venjix first cut off access to the Morphing Grid they began searching for new ways to tap into the powers. Corinth was safe, but everyone knew that eventually Venjix would breach the walls, and when that day came, their normal, armed forces wouldn't stand a chance.

General Truman was the over-all head of Orion, and he was also the driving force behind the research into Ranger Powers. He had made several decisions that many would consider controversial, including allowing a machine to act as part of his project, but he always placed the citizen's lives first, and no one ever doubted that he would do anything in his power to prevent harm to fall on the city.

The Head of Research at Orion was also one of his controversial decisions. A young girl, barely 20, was hired to lead the research into the Powers. She was simply known as Dr. K, and despite her age very few would argue her ability. She had spent countless hours and days in Ranger research, finally finding a source she believed capable of harnessing the Morphing Powers, she only needed one last component, and as of recently she had found that component, in the form of Adam Park.

Another chief figure at Orion, was also the one that had the most controversy. He was a machine, he was one of the enemy…at least that's what the people viewed him as. He was called Alpha 5, trusted ally and advisor of 4 teams of Rangers. He was also the one that held two vital components in the formation of the new Ranger Powers. With Alpha on board, Dr. K now had access to both the Turbo and Zeo Powers, despite the fact both seemed dormant.

With the aid of Alpha, Dr. K was able to combine elements of the Turbo and Zeo Powers into something new. Though not as strong as the Zeo Powers, but much stronger than the Turbo Powers, she was able to design 5 new bio-armor suits: Series Red, Blue and Yellow as well as Series Green, and finally Series Black. The suits were there, the powers were there but they had yet to provide a means in which a human could summon the powers instantly, so there was no, "Morphing," aspect. For some reason they could not get the Ranger Powers to bind with a human host. They had trained three individuals to take on Series Red, Blue and Yellow, but not Green or Black, because they still had yet to fully understand the full capabilities of those Powers.

Alpha mentioned that he knew of one former Ranger still able to fully morph, despite the interference from Venjix. He had been 1 of 5 former Rangers who had been called back into action when a previous team was temporarily disconnected from the Morphing Grid. The other 3 who still existed in this time period had all but vanished when Venjix arrived, and there was no ways to know whether or not they're powers were still active.

That one remaining Ranger was none other than Adam Park, Black Ranger. It took a while to hunt down the Ranger, but eventually they succeeded, and Adam had agreed to come to Corinth in an effort to aid Orion. He was scheduled to arrive today.

Justin and Adam made their way to the main entrance of the facility where they were met by a secretary.

"Can I help you?" The secretary greeted.

"My name is Adam Park and I had an appointment with a Dr. K," Adam introduced himself, "and this is Justin Stewart."

Justin nodded.

"Just a moment," the secretary lifted a phone and pressed several buttons on the keypad. She was checking to see if these 2 men were expected.

Justin and Adam both stood in silence, until the secretary turned to face them again.

"Please step through the door to the left, you will be greeted via monitor in there," the secretary unlocked a door and motion for the former Turbo Rangers to pass through.

"Thank you," Adam smiled and walked through the door.

The room was mostly empty. There were several chairs, and very little else, there was a large monitor against the far wall, and a sealed door to the left. Justin and Adam both sat down, waiting for something to happen.

The monitor on the far wall came to life, as the spinning Orion logo appeared on-screen. Moments later a female voice spoke, "Welcome Adam."

"Hi, this is…" Adam began to introduce Justin.

"Trust me, I know Justin Stewart, we go way back," the voice responded.

"Hey Doc," Justin spoke.

The spinning Orion loge faded as static image began to take form; eventually the static took on a human form, though not a clear image.

Adam watched the screen, finally the image was clear. After seeing who was there Adam was slightly shocked.

A tiny figure of a girl, who looked no older than 18, was looking at the camera. Her lab coat seemed oversized, and the headset she wore looked twice as big as it should have. She could see Adam's shock as he watched the screen, "What? You thought I'd be taller?"

"Actually I thought you'd be older," Adam answered honestly.

"I get that a lot," the girl smiled, "Sorry about the monitor chat, you'll be allowed back momentarily. It just takes a couple minutes."

"That's okay," Justin replied, "if it's a problem with me being here I can go."

"Nonsense, you have just as much at stake here as we do, plus it's been like a year since we visited," Dr. K assured Justin.

Minutes later the second door in the room opened, and Dr. K's voice told them to pass through.

"Ay yi yi yi. Adam, Justin, dudes, it's been a long time," a familiar voice greeted the two former Turbo Rangers as the walked through.

"Alpha? Is that you?" Justin laughed, "what are you doing here?"

"Working with Orion of course, come in and you'll see how," Alpha flagged them to follow him.

The halls were long, windows lined the walls, with different experiments taking place, most dealing with weapon testing and defense improvement. At the end of the hall was yet another door to pass through, this one with no way to see inside it. Alpha pressed a combination of numbers on a keypad, before the door came open.

Inside Dr. K was looking over a stack of papers. She looked up and grinned when Adam and Justin walked in.

The room itself seemed to scream research, but several things immediately caught the eye of the Rangers. Lining the back wall were 5 tubes, side by side, and in each tube was a colored uniform with a number 1-5 on the chest. Sure the uniforms changed in appearance, but there was never mistaking a Ranger uniform.

"Those are cool," Justin looked over each uniform, his eyes straying slightly longer on the blue uniform as memories of his childhood flooded back.

Adam's attention was caught by something else entirely though. Something he had not been expecting to see. He approached the items, looking at each closely, "Alpha are these…"

"Yes Adam," Alpha answered.

Dr. K walked up beside Adam, "neat huh?"

The items that lay in front of Adam were five separate crystals, each bearing a different shape one the ends. The other items were wrist mounts, each with a corresponding key.

Justin walked over to where Adam was, and he saw what the others were looking at.

"Those are the Turbo Morphers," Justin saw the one he had worn on his wrist so many years ago, "and I take it those are the Zeo Crystals?"

"You brought these didn't you Alpha?" Adam turned toward the red and gold robot, "I thought they were gone."

"Powers like these never die, they just take on new forms," Dr. K answered, "Alpha was kind enough to let me study the Turbo Morphers and Crystals, and what I learned from them is what allowed me to design the RPM Powers. Basically those five uniforms on the wall over there are a combination of the Zeo and Turbo Powers."

"It was amazing Adam, we never thought it would work, but we were able to design these new bio-suits," Alpha exclaimed.

"Well if you have these suits and all that, what did you need me for?" Adam asked.

"Simple, we needed to do a scan of your Morphed form, and through that hope that we can find a way to bind these powers to our recruits, the way your powers are bound to you," Dr. K explained, "and to our knowledge you are the only living, active Ranger on Earth."

Justin continued to look over the Morphers and Crystals. He wanted so badly to just reach out and try to tap into the Turbo Powers one more time.

Alpha noticed the look on Justin's face, "I'm sorry Justin, I know it must be hard for you, but the powers are dormant…"

"Are you 100% positive?" Justin asked without realizing it, "I mean weirder things have happened."

"You can try, but just don't expect anything," Dr. K told the former Blue Turbo Ranger.

Justin reached down and lifted the Blue Turbo Morpher from the table. Attaching it to his wrist he put the key in the opposite hand of the Morpher wrist.

Adam watched intently, just waiting to see what would happen, as did Alpha and Dr. K.

Thrusting his hands forward and inserting the key Justin shouted out, "Shift Into Turbo!" For one instant he swore he felt something, but then it quickly faded and Justin was just standing there, "well it didn't hurt to try."

"I'm sorry man," Adam tried to assure his friend. He knew that it was hard for Justin losing his powers at such a young age, but in that short time he had proven himself more than worthy to wield the Powers.

"It's cool," Justin forced a smile, "so why don't you Mister Last Action Ranger show us what you got." Justin said jokingly.

Adam smiled, "I'll see what I can do."

Dr. K's eyes lit up at that suggestion. For the first time in her life she was about to see an honest to goodness Power Ranger morph right in front of her. The kid in her was filled with anticipation, and the scientist in her was filled with curiosity.

"Ay yi yi yi, this is so exciting. My circuits are overloading with anticipation," Alpha's voice was filled with excitement.

Reaching to his side, where he kept his Morpher, Adam lifted the bulky device forward. The Mastodon Coin embedded in the Morpher shined in the dim light, "It's Morphin Time!" There was no elaborate motion like so many of the later Rangers, just a simple thrusting forward, the Morpher's front panel opened as a glow erupted from the Coin, "Mastodon!" The final phase of the morph was complete, and Adam stood clad in his Black Ranger uniform.

"Whoah," was Dr. K's only response.

"So what's next?" the Black Ranger addressed the dumbfounded scientist.

"Oh…yeah…um…scanning…we need to run a body scan," Dr. K came back to reality, "Come on, we need to go this way. Oh and you can meet our recruits as well," the young scientist regained her composure.

"Lead the way," the Black Ranger responded.

Dr. K and the Black Ranger began to leave the room.

"You coming or not," Dr. K looked back to Justin.

"Oh yeah, be right there," Justin walked towards the Ranger and girl.

"Alpha can you go check on the other project?" Dr. K asked the robot.

"Of course Dr. K, right away," Alpha went the opposite direction.

"What other project? If you don't mind me asking?" Justin asked as he walked side by side with the petite scientist.

"You'll see, I'm hoping you can help me with it," Dr. K winked.

"Works for me," Justin responded.

TBC